Brick Fence – Part 1

Above are some screenshots of my design for the new brick fence. Because the lot has a bit of a slope we need to step the fence about 12″ in total over the 40′ span, so we decided that piers would help to transition the stepped sections. The piers will be 4′ to 4 1/2′ and the sections in between them will be about 2′ above the sidewalk. The difference in height between the piers and the sections in between will allow us to add wrought iron later down the road if we decide to get fancy and try to match the neighbours ;) For now we like the idea of a low fence so that plants can peak up from behind, and we can still easily talk to the neighbours as they walk by.

The bond we plan on using is a traditional flemish bond which has staggered courses of mixed stretchers and headers:

And a photo of the brick we settled on:

Even though the fence won’t be very tall we still need to makes sure that it sits on a stable surface. To that end we will put in a 14″ wide by 8″ deep concrete footing on top of 4″ compacted gravel. Good friend Matt Haddow at Haddow Groundworks is the foreman and master brick layer on this job while I function as digger and uptight homeowner.

Matt I and I have almost completed digging the trench for the footing. Here are some photos:

Once we’ve fine tuned the trench the next step will be laying down the gravel and compacting it. Then we’ll get the concrete forms built.

About Project Pope

Project Pope documents Matt & Jess's restoration of a 1904 Tudor Revival home in the Pacific Northwest. Also included are some of Matt's woodworking projects, a bit of photography, and whatever else we think might be interesting. Enjoy!